Make Natural Egg Dye In Minutes
In the Martin & Sylvia story, "Signs of Spring," Sylvia loves to color eggs – she loves to make the dyes, draw designs, and soak white eggs in the colors. However, she doesn't like to wait. So, while the eggs are turning magnificent colors, Momma creates a springtime game that transforms impatient waiting into springtime magic.
Spring is a time of rebirth for all of the natural world – from cute little rabbits to birds and tree buds. Eggs have long been a way of celebrating this time of year, in part because they are so abundant. All eight of our hens are laying eggs right now and it feels like we are eating eggs morning noon and night! Our eggs are very colorful on their own, in their varying shades of brown, beige, green, and blue. But sometimes it's fun to dye them yellow or pink or bright blue.
Natural dyes are fun and easy to make with just few ingredients you can find right in your kitchen. Try tumeric for yellow, or beets for pink, spinach for green, or bluberries for blue.
Natural Egg Dye
Materials
1 dozen white eggs (you can use light-brown eggs, but the color won't be as vibrant)
1 cup of dye materials of choice (we used tumeric, blueberries, and parsley)
½ cup of vinegar
Directions
Start by hard-boiling your eggs using your favorite method. While the eggs cook, prepare your dye.
Depending on your materials used for dying you'll need about a cup. For example: I used one cup of chopped parsley and one cup of bluEberries. For the turmeric I used only 2 tablespoons.
Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a pot for each different dye. (I had three pots going, one for each color.) When the water is boiling add the ingredients and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Then strain the liquid into a cup or bowl and add 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Set up a space for your kids to dye the eggs.
Using fingers or a spoon, place an egg gently into the dye.
Allow the egg to sit in the dye until you and your child are happy with the color.
Then place the egg in a bowl or in an egg cartoon to dry.
Try mixing colors to find delightful shades, like we did! We found the parsley to be too weak of a color so we placed an egg into the tumeric first, let it sit for a minute, then placed that egg into the blueberry juice and let it sit another minute. We got a lovely green color. Feel free to experiment!
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About the Author
KC Pagano
KC is a full-time radical homemaker and mama to two spunky little girls. She writes about all kinds of radical goodness, from gardening and cooking with whole foods to crafting, sewing, homeschooling, and mama musings. Read more on her blog The Nettlesome Life.
